Top Picks

Once a shy young man from a town in Hungary, István is carried gradually upwards on the currents of the 21st century's tides of money and power, moving from the army to the company of London's super-rich, with his own competing impulses for love, intimacy, status and wealth winning him unimaginable riches, until they threaten to undo him completely. Spare and penetrating, 'Flesh' asks profound questions about what drives a life: what makes it worth living, and what breaks it.

Read more less

Publishes 16th April 2026 Signed copies available to pre-order while stocks last. The ever-witty Brian Bilston gives us a sparkling insight into his craft in this entertaining writing guidebook, including over 100 new poems.  Why do we write poetry? Where did it all begin? Who can write it, and most  importantly, how? In How to Lay an Egg With a Horse Inside, Brian Bilston, one of the  UK's funniest and best-loved poets, takes us through the how's, why's and what's of  reading and writing poetry. Bilston accompanies us through the jungle of imagination to the source of inspiration, takes us under the bonnet of a sonnet and over the fear of literary devices, gives us a whirlwind tour through the history of poetry, and shows us why we will always write better than any robot. Showcasing over a hundred brand new poems, and also  including practical criticisms of some of his greatest hits, every section is an  accessible, funny, and deeply pleasurable deep-dive into the craft. Charming, warm-hearted and comforting, for readers of poetry or those just getting started, How to Lay an Egg With a Horse Inside is for anyone who loves  words, and loves all the things they can do.

Read more less

Welsh in Twelve Weeks introduces you to the essential vocabulary and main grammatical areas of Welsh.

Read more less

Imagine you could hold a baby hare and bottle-feed it. Imagine that it lived under your roof and lolloped around your bedroom at night, drumming on the duvet cover when it wanted your attention. Imagine that, over two years later, it still ran in from the fields when you called it and snoozed in your house for hours on end. This happened to me. When lockdown led busy professional Chloe to leave the city and return to the countryside of her childhood, she never expected to find herself custodian of a newly born hare. Yet when she finds the creature, endangered, alone and no bigger than her palm, she is compelled to give it a chance at survival. 'Raising Hare' chronicles their journey together and the challenges of caring for the leveret and preparing for its return to the wild.

Read more less

When Tova Sullivan's husband died two years ago, she talked her way into a job mopping floors at Sowell Bay Aquarium. Keeping busy helps her cope, which she's been doing since her 18-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished. 30 and headlining for washed-up band Moth Sausage, Cameron Cassmore has some serious growing up to do. Then the discovery of an old class ring sends him on a mission to Sowell Bay to track down the father he's never known. Marcellus, a 'prisoner' at the Aquarium, wouldn't lift one of his eight tentacles for his human captors until he forms a friendship with the cleaning lady. Keenly observant, but with time running out, Marcellus deduces that Cameron is a missing key to what happened the fateful night of Erik's disappearance. Now Marcellus must use every trick his old, invertebrate body can muster to unearth the truth for Tova before it's too late.

Read more less

'Miraculous, mischievous and quietly devastating, Love Lane is the irresistible story of five individuals, linked by the past and yet separated by the present. I have just fallen in love with a beautiful book' Rachel Joyce'With Love Lane, Gale gets right to the secret joys and hidden heartbreaks of ordinary, flawed family life. A tender, delicately devastating novel' Sarah Waters'I adored this book. Patrick Gale's writing glows with compassion, as does his subtle, unflinching insight into his characters. Love Lane is an engulfing, deeply humane novel about the triumphs and failures of human connection' Marina KempA reunion. A journey. A longing for a place called home...When veteran Canadian wheat farmer, Harry Cane is obliged to sell up and sail home to an England transformed by two world wars, his arrival triggers unwelcome self-examination for the family he abandoned, and for whom he has never been more than a distant myth.His daughter feels duty bound to take him in but is riven with doubt and ambushed by a long buried anger she has never before expressed. Harry's effect on the next generation is less predictable, and enables his granddaughter to deal with an unspeakable trauma, while her gentle husband feels seen for who he truly is.Can Harry stay and make a new life before it's too late, or will he find himself cast out again, punished for having witnessed and understood too much?LOVE LANE is a searing portrayal of escape and entrapment, and a powerful exploration of what home and family can really be.' Love Lane is the story of a family, told beautifully and with deep understanding. There is no judgement here, only humanity. A joy and a lesson for our time' Ann Cleeves'An involving story of reconciliation, secrets and compromises, rich in emotional truth and evocative historical detail' Clare Chambers'I adored it. One of the most atmospheric and subtly realised novels I've read in a long while. It has the feel of a small-scale epic, filtered through distinct voices, about family and memory, estrangement and homecoming' James Cahill'He makes you care about the characters who feel real, and you so badly want the world to treat them with the respect, kindness and attention they deserve. A deep, moving novel' Georgina MooreSee the FIVE STAR reader reviews for Patrick Gale:'The gift of Patrick Gale is to tell a story with such poise and grace of prose that you are wound deeply around every step of the unfolding tale' 'Gale is one of those skilled writers who makes you forget you're reading a book''Gale is a wonderful writer' 'A gifted storyteller'

Read more less

#1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER‘One day you’ll look back and realise how hard it was, and just how well you did’Charlie Mackesy’s four unlikely friends are wandering through the wilds again. They’re not sure what they are looking for. They do know that life can be difficult, but that they love each other, and cake is often the answer. When the dark clouds come, can the boy remember what he needs to get through the storm?The hugely anticipated new book from Charlie Mackesy, revisiting the much-loved world of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – the bestselling adult non-fiction book of all time, with over ten million readers around the world.

Read more less

Signed limited independent bookshop edition Published 15th October 2026 The final novel in the highly acclaimed and beloved Thursday Next series. Will Thursday find her happy ending?Swindon-based Literary Detective Thursday Next is embarking on her eighth and final adventure: 'Dark Reading Matter' and she is well aware of the fact. The problem is, others are too. Old foes and new are plotting a terrible revenge: To disrupt the narrative and make Dark Reading Matter not just unreadable but unpublishable. Thursday can't let that happen and needs to use all her guile and narrative trickery to unmask the antagonists and guide the series to a satisfactory conclusion. It won't be easy. The Martians have broken out of their HG Wells novel and threaten both the real world and the Bookworld. Agents from a higher reality want unfettered access to the Dark Reading Matter, the realm where deleted books and unrealised literary ideas end up. A Gateway to Hell has opened up at Wantage's Shakesmania, the nation's second to worst Shakespeare theme park and the cosy world of Enid Blyton has been hi-jacked by Ultra Right Wing Nationalists. With Reality Field Distortion experiments going haywire, a partially redacted donkey, a Bookworld on the brink of losing its imaginative energy to Big Tech and a murderous stamp collector with Philaticide on their mind, Thursday has to navigate a tightrope of borderline unusable narrative devices to bring the series to a satisfactory conclusion. It's a tall order, but Thursday has a secret weapon: Her own adaptability, her husband Landen, a host of stalwart friends and ultimately the most loyal compatriots she can call upon: Her readers. 'Hugely funny and gloriously imaginative' Daily Express'Fans of the late Douglas Adams, or, even, Monty Python, will feel at home with Fforde' Herald        

Read more less

Published 1st September 2026 Special Independent Bookshop Edition There was a moment, just over two thousand years ago, when the whole Mediterranean world could have been ruled by a woman. The Roman Republic was crumbling, torn apart by rivalries. Egypt was a wellspring of wealth. But its rulers had squandered their advantage and ended up hopelessly indebted to the protection racket that called itself Rome. Now a woman, as Pharaoh, had a chance to reclaim what Egypt had lost, to forge an alliance which would save both Rome and Egypt. Ancient history, high politics, sex and power collide in this dramatic story of the Egyptian queen who confronted and contested the power of Rome. This is Cleopatra and Antonius as you've never seen them before, in the first novel from number one bestselling author Alice Roberts.

Read more less

** All was quiet in the deep dark wood, until . . .10th September 2026… PRE-ORDER NOW ** The brand new Gruffalo picture book from Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler is coming. Return to the deep dark wood with the first new Gruffalo story in over 20 years. This fresh and exciting new Gruffalo adventure features the return of much-loved characters and is destined to become a classic. Get your claws on this brand new Gruffalo story first – pre-order now! Julia Donaldson said, “I really hope that children – and adults too – will enjoy the new story, as I know what a wonderful experience shared reading can be. I was delighted when Axel came on board, and am even more so now that I’ve seen the brilliant sketches he’s already done for the new book.” Axel Scheffler said “. . . One day out of the blue there came a wonderfully clever and inspired new text by Julia. How does she do this? Could I decline? Of course not! As I have had to draw the odd Gruffalo and his daughter over the last 20 years, I’m not completely out of practice.”

Read more less